Kimiko Date not the only senior citizen to try a comeback

Here’s the story of Indonesia’s Yayuk Basuki, memorable during her pro career for the lilting vowel-ness of her name.

Basuki, who turns 38 on Nov. 30, reached a career high of No. 19 in singles (six career titles) and No. 9 in doubles.

Her last singles match, prior to this comeback, was in Pattaya, Thailand in Nov. 2000. She had played sparingly in the two years before that.

But since February, she has played a fairly full schedule on the minor-league Challenger circuit, with a break in the summer. She’s been in the U.S. (San Diego, Augusta, GA., Lawrenceville, GA, Pittsburgh, Troy, AL) for the last couple of months, playing with fellow Indonesian Romana Tedjakusuma, a 32-year-old who never had the success Basuki enjoyed on Tour. But the two have known each other a long time; they won a small doubles title together back in 1994.

The two won the doubles title in Augusta, a $25,000 event. They reached the final at the $50,000 event in Lawrenceville, losing 12-10 in the third-set supertiebreaker to the accomplished tandem of Julie Ditty and Carly Gullickson. They won two titles earlier in the season, and have played 15 events in all in 2008.

Here are some excerpts from a story in the Jakarta Post about Basuki’s comeback. It’s worth noting that the culture is quite a bit different over there, in terms of a woman leaving her family (she and her husband have a 9-year-old son) to pursue her personal goals.

When Yayuk Basuki decided to return to the international tennis circuit at the age of 37 earlier this year to play doubles, the natural assumption of many people was that it was for the money.

What else could account for the fact that the former world number 19, who retired at the end of 2001, was leaving her husband and young son behind in Indonesia?

In fact, Yayuk, who won US$1.6 million during her career, says that is not the reason. “I’m motivated by the love of the game and to stay healthy,” she says from a tournament in the United States. “I never thought I would come back.”

She turns 38 on Nov. 30, and dreams of playing a Grand Slam tournament again, especially at Wimbledon.

For some, however, falling on hard times would have been an easier, more understandable reason to accept her leaving her family rather than her pursuit of personal goals and self-fulfillment.

For, given prevailing views, women should put their families first — and their own concerns a distant second.

Women who leave their homes to earn a paycheck for their husbands and families abroad, like thousands of Indonesian migrant workers every year, are considered self-sacrificing heroes. In contrast, those who head out in search of themselves, whether through their careers or through education, are often branded as selfish and egotistical.

Yayuk, who has won a couple of satellite tournaments in Germany and the United States with fellow Indonesian Romana Tedjakusuma, admits that not all of her family members agreed with her decision. But the ones who mattered — her husband Heri Suharyadi and son — gave her their blessing.

“It’s hard,” she says of the separation, “but we keep in touch all the time.”

Yayuk’s husband, Suharyadi, says he was surprised by her decision to return to competitive tennis, not because she was leaving him and their 9-year-old son, but because of the hard work required to get fit for the tour.

“Yayuk is very strong-willed and I knew she wanted to do this, so I accepted it and support her,” says Heri, a former player who now coaches.

“People get it wrong if they look at it as something selfish. They should think of it like the people in motor racing and other sports who have wanted to make a comeback.”

He says he has gained newfound respect for his wife in his new role taking care of the household.

“I do things like pay the electricity which I didn’t before. And I have also become closer to our son because I spend more time with him now.”

On a related note, here’s an update on Kimiko Date, who is two months younger than Basuki:

After winning three straight small events in Japan – one each in June, July and August – she has continued to play. She lost in the final round of qualifying at the Tier I event in Tokyo (to Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak) in September, and played in Taipei in late October and Tokyo in early November. Her singles record on the year was 33-8.

She broke into the top 200 at her current No. 197. That’s more than enough to get her into the qualifying at the Australian Open, should she decide to go that route. Looks like she hasn’t been straying too far from home, though. At least Oz is in the same general neck of the woods. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.

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